AuthorTopic: This is what i love (Read 6992 times)

nobody needs to worry about me. i just hate when people base their entire worldviews on assumptions and prejudiced generalizations.

Part of me agrees with JGB- in some cases, the cream will rise. My family is an example of that. But in cities like Camden where I grew up this is a rare occurrence. Most families and children I know are so focused on survival and avoiding eviction/debt, violence, and crime that they don't have time to even think about acheiving more. Add on top of that teachers and parents that discourage children from dreaming and having ambitions, and you have children that are literally TOLD to underachieve. That's why I believe being able to break that cycle, get good grades, and complete college should be recognized as a great acheivement. I am the only person in my family's generation to complete college. I am the only person in my neighborhood to complete high school and go to college. And I will be the first in my family to go law school if admitted. I think admissions should be able weigh those acheivements when deciding my fate. That can be done without knowing my race, but that would be like erasing all the discrimination I had to face in high school and college. And I have a problem with that.

^^^yeah, i'm just kinda paranoid about sharing that experience. also i don't want people saying that I used that as a sob story to get into law school. because it's not even in my personal statement. this was the first time i've discussed it in a long time...and even now i'm kinda regretting it.

Education is the silver bullet for poverty, racism, and crime. It is just a shame the problem can not be fixed where it needs to be...K-12 Education. As I mentioned earlier, a few schools in Dallas are having trouble staying open.

A thought on schools. I am not sure how it is in other states, but Texas lacks a state tax. That being said, the property owners are taking the hit in terms of school taxes. The nicer parts of the metroplex (Highland Park, Plano, Rockwall, Frisco, etc) pay the bulk of these taxes. Texas also has the "Robin Hood" effect. Money is taken from these cities, and given else where. A lot of money is being paid out, but still no sign of development. Hopefully Governor Perry fixes this, because property taxes are wicked expensive.

Coupons. I believe I read that there are numerous cities that are offering coupons to help pay for private school for underprivelaged families. Is this happening? Working?

Is the problem in the programs being offered, or is the problem in the lack of initiative and thoughts of growth within the families? My boxing coach was from Harlem. His story was that if he didn't learn what he learned to defend himself, he would not be here today. He and his family moved to Dallas to help provide a future for their kids. The kids have since moved on to the military to help pay for college.

"Is the problem in the programs being offered, or is the problem in the lack of initiative and thoughts of growth within the families?"

It's both. The problem my mom is having now as a teacher is that she has to teach them how to take standardized tests for the majority of the day due to "No Child Left Behind". There is so much pressure on the teachers to raise the test scores that they can't give the individual attention they used to give. Because funding is tied to these tests...it's become more important to test prep the kids than to teach them lasting skills. Another problem my mom faces is that a good amount of her kids have just come to United States, are in fourth grade but don't know English. How is she supposed to get these kids comprehension high enough so they can do well on an English standardized test? She is a great teacher, but for other teachers this just proves too much and they end up not giving the kids the extra help they need.

Another problem my mom talks about alot is the fact that some parents just don't care. Alot of parents don't see the benefit of having their children go to college, they just see it as more of a financial burden. Some even want the to drop out ASAP so they can join the workforce and help the family. Others don't want their children to be disciplined, even if the need to. Instead of parents being upset with their children when they are given detention, they get mad at my mom for keeping them at school when they could be at home helping w/ chores/childcare. Like I said my mother has even been threatened because she's kept kids afterschool.

So really it is a combination of both. The problem is...if you give the best program possible and the parents still don't care alot of kids will still give up on their dreams. So the most challenging problem is teaching parents that education is a long term investment that will pay off and increase the family income. But when you are struggling financially as a parent, you tend to see college as a risk, not an investment.